Covid 19 has not had negative impact on most taxpayers ability to pay their school taxes
GREENBURGH RESIDENTS ON TARGET FOR PAYING SCHOOL TAXES --COVID 19 HAS NOT HAD NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ABILITY TO PAY
COVID-19 resulted in furloughs and layoffs of many residents. A concern for all local governments: would taxpayers be able to continue to pay their tax obligations---especially during this difficult time? A few months back we all thought that taxes would not be paid.
An article in the May 21, 2020 issue of the Atlantic quoted Michael Pagano, of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago warning that if this crisis runs long enough, large numbers of property owners who are in trouble may not be able to pay their property taxes. This could have caused local governments significant problems. The town of Greenburgh is responsible for guaranteeing school districts taxes owed whether we collect them or not. We also guarantee the county of Westchester 100% of the taxes owed -whether collected or not.
I asked the Receiver of Taxes to provide me with a report --what percent of taxpayers paid their school taxes. The
first half of the school taxes is due September 30th. the 2nd half January 30th. The numbers are close to where we
were in previous years. This is positive news. 49% of the school taxes owed was paid in 2020 compared to 51% last year.
Remember -we only expect half the taxes by October 1. We collected $189,140,987.63 by October 1 2020 compared to
$187,743,769.88 last year. $193,448,836.05 is owed by January 30th compared to $180,941,340.62 last year.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor